League of Women Voters: Monitoring local meetings provides insight on process

The League of Women Voters of Pullman has long had a presence with city government in Pullman, and a growing membership has allowed that presence to increase to much of the rest of the county. A League of Women Voters member has been present at many of the Board of County Commissioners and Port of Whitman County meetings this year.

“That has been a long-time custom of the League, to have observers,” said Paul Spencer, who observes the county commissioners' meetings.

Spencer said he believes observing is something which helps to lead to accountability for elected officials.

“We feel it's important because the boards we observe know there is someone there and listening. We have a presence,” he said.

Spencer also said the practice of observing meetings has taught him a thing or two.

“It's made me more aware. It's helped me to have a broader perspective on the county operations and the state.”

Alice Schroeder, who attends the Port of Whitman County meetings, said attending meetings has also increased her awareness.

“Observing, you begin to understand what it is public officials face,” she said. “They don't just go to meetings once every week or two; they are usually out connecting with other groups.”

Spencer said he has been attending county meetings for five or six years, and he said this has taught him a lot about the county and allowed him to meet many people.

“I've learned a lot about how the county works. The people from various other boards come to the county board to report on things,” he said. “Nearly everyone comes there sooner or later. I've certainly become more familiar with the people who are doing stuff, and I've gotten to know their difficulties.”

Spencer said he would encourage anyone to attend local government meetings.

“It would be valuable to go to a few meetings,” he said. “Things that are important to all of us are happening, and most people know virtually nothing about what happens. A lot of interesting and vital things happen, and all of us should know something about the people we're voting for.”

Schroeder said attending port meetings since January of this year has given her a sense of what the Port faces.

“The Port does a lot of things I was really unaware of,” she said. “They are very concerned about spending their money wisely and providing good value for their money.”

Schroeder also said the League is growing and now able to get to more meetings than in the past, though she noted it cannot yet attend many of the meetings in outlying areas in the county.

“We need members in those communities because it gets hard to go to these meetings,” she said. “We are the only League in the area, and we like to be involved with the county.”

She added that attending meetings is not only a benefit to herself and the League, but for those involved with the meetings.

“They are working so hard for the public,” she said, “so it's nice to show them some interest.”

Spencer and Schroeder both said they have been surprised with learning what it takes to run a county and organization.

“I've been impressed with the number of volunteers in the county,” Spencer said. “There are a number of boards people volunteer for, and that is important to us.”

“It's just amazing how many volunteers it takes to run a county with only 44,000 people,” Schroeder said.

Spencer said he has also been able to observe how the leadership amongst elected officials works.

“I've certainly been impressed with the general confidence and willingness to do what needs to be done for the county and the city,” he said.

Spencer said he has been involved with the League of Women Voters for about seven years. His wife, Susan Daniels, is also involved and helped to get him started in the League. He has served as secretary and board chairman and is currently serving as the webmaster. Schroeder said she has been involved with the League since 1968.

“The League gets loyalty from people,” she said. “It meets a lot of interests because the League is interested in anything that is affected by government and it's non-partisan. You always learn a lot.”

Schroeder said she has served in many capacities in the League, including as president for nine years, and currently serves as secretary. She said she has enjoyed the experience of being able to serve in different ways and feels that governments can operate in a similar manner.

“It's never good to have just one person in charge,” she said. “Some people develop an expertise, but in other situations it's probably not so good to have the same person do it over and over again.”

Spencer and Schroeder both said they enjoy that the League is non-partisan. Spencer said in a sense he has observed this with the county.

“One of the things I like is it's essentially non-partisan,” he said. “There isn't this bickering back and forth. That's how things should be all the way to the national level.”

Schroeder said the League supports “good government.”

“The League really is non-partisan and never supports candidates,” she said. “We're for certain types of good government, but we won't come out and say we support that candidate or that one, so it's a great place to learn about government.”

Schroeder said those interested in learning more about the League and how to become involved can do so by visiting http://www.lwvpullman.org.